Smart card signal transmission circuitry includes at least one oscillator circuit for generating a modulated carrier signal for transmission of data to a smart card. A common class of output stage utilized for RF communication is Class-A output stages which is capable of generating pure sine waves due to its linear characteristics. Due to the low efficiency of the Class-A output stages, non-linear power stages or square wave generators are typically used in the prior art as the radio frequency (RF) power oscillators for contactless card antennas. However, these non-linear or square wave generators present several disadvantages for use in providing a modulated carrier signal for transmission by smart card antennas.
A disadvantage of the prior art nonlinear transistor stage is the dependency on the transistors gain parameters. This type of output stage is typically based on a NPN transistor with a parallel LC resonance circuit as collector load. This circuit is capable of generating fairly pure sine waves, but the nonlinear nature of the circuit makes it very hard to control the amplitude of the output signal and especially the modulation index in case amplitude modulation is desired.
A disadvantage of the prior art square wave generator is that the generator draws a large current spike from the power supply when it switches state due to the charging and discharging of inherent capacitances in the switching circuit. The current spike typically has a duration comparable to the rise and fall-time of the output square wave, resulting in a current spike with a very broad electromagnetic interference (EMI) noise spectrum. The prior art circuits that use the nonlinear or square wave generator also require the use of a low pass or a band pass filter before the modulated signals are fed to the tuned antenna coil to rid the signal of the harmonics of the operating frequency. However, these filters include combinations of capacitors and inductors which produce additional signal interference between the filter and the tuned antenna coil resulting in unwanted resonances at frequencies outside the operating frequency of the smart card communication system.
Therefore, a need continues to exist for a radio frequency power oscillator for use with contactless smart card antennas that will produce a high current, modulated signal with an improved wave shape and accurately controlled amplitude without drawing excessive current spikes and with reduced electromagnetic interference.